It's always difficult to know because, lets face it, no-one knows everything about all of the opposition teams. That said, although there's often the odd surprise, most countries tend to perform to a certain level.
Of the teams there I'd think we should be better than Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Iran, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland and United States. We'd have to be bad to lose to any of these.
I'd expect us to be on a par with Italy and Netherlands. If we play them it could be anybody's game.
Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain have historically been better than us, and I don't know of any reason it should be different this time. We'll need a slice of luck to beat any of these. On a good day, I think we could take any of them on. But beating two or more of them to go all the way looks to be a big ask.
Based on all that I'd say that reaching the quarter finals is a realistic expectation, semi finals a realistic hope, reaching the final would be a dream, and winning it a wet one.
I think we have a decent chance of making the QFs. We are technically and tactically behind Spain, Germany and probably Argentina/Brazil but not one of the top seeded sides will fancy England in their Group. We can still beat anyone on our day.
Do people actually look at international results or do they just think 'oh that team are probably alright, they'd beat us. There's very little chance Mexico would give us a good game, they are absolutely woeful. Defeats against Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama in qualification tell us this. When was the last time England lost a competetive game over 90 mins?
With England I wouldn't say there's a single team that would 'definitely beat us' because you don't know what type of performance England will put in. I see us as the same type of side as Chelsea in the CL. Won't play good teams off the park but will work hard, ride their luck and who knows what could happen.
Stonewall, I am a proud Englishman. Fortunately, living in OZ, i am not exposed to the brainwashing press you guys have over there. YOU are not a realist. England has a shocking nationa team, certainly not in the top 24 in the world. The brand of football played by aengland is third rate, definitely below the Latins and almost certainly below most of Europe and most of Africa. Mendonca, thanks, you get my drift. Some of you have already started on the we're gonna win it, rech the SF, QF etc. personally, I hope that all happens. However, we swa our 'golden' era with hit and hope Gerrard, no skill Lampard, Poser Ferdinand, it's all about me Terry, throw it all away. This group,,lower on ability than our 'golden' era' may bond stronger, and that may help us. Other than that, cross your fingers for the draw........we will need it.
Stonewall, I am a proud Englishman. Fortunately, living in OZ, i am not exposed to the brainwashing press you guys have over there. YOU are not a realist. England has a shocking nationa team, certainly not in the top 24 in the world. The brand of football played by aengland is third rate, definitely below the Latins and almost certainly below most of Europe and most of Africa. Mendonca, thanks, you get my drift. Some of you have already started on the we're gonna win it, rech the SF, QF etc. personally, I hope that all happens. However, we swa our 'golden' era with hit and hope Gerrard, no skill Lampard, Poser Ferdinand, it's all about me Terry, throw it all away. This group,,lower on ability than our 'golden' era' may bond stronger, and that may help us. Other than that, cross your fingers for the draw........we will need it.
Eh?
Some of our play on Tuesday was world class. Living in Oz, do you get to watch much African Nations stuff?
It comments like that that are just as ridiculous as people telling us we're are gonna win it and 'England expects'
I don't get the expectation of being a world cup winning side. Just because we invented the game doesn't give us some god-given right to beat the rest of the world. If we get to the last 8 I think it would be a major achievement. Winning it is just unrealistic.
With an attitude like that, why even bother getting on the pissing plane?
So do you think we're going to win it? Or even that we have a realistic chance of doing so?
VG, get to watch heaps of stuff from all over the World. Your question perhaps typifies your attitude. World class? Get real and watch the game properly, kt was a second class game at best. England v Poland with world class footnall played? Lol
VG, get to watch heaps of stuff from all over the World. Your question perhaps typifies your attitude. World class? Get real and watch the game properly, kt was a second class game at best. England v Poland with world class footnall played? Lol
read what i said...'Some' of our play.
Will look forward to all the quality African football next summer!!! LOL
Stonewall, I am a proud Englishman. Fortunately, living in OZ, i am not exposed to the brainwashing press you guys have over there. YOU are not a realist. England has a shocking nationa team, certainly not in the top 24 in the world. The brand of football played by aengland is third rate, definitely below the Latins and almost certainly below most of Europe and most of Africa. Mendonca, thanks, you get my drift. Some of you have already started on the we're gonna win it, rech the SF, QF etc. personally, I hope that all happens. However, we swa our 'golden' era with hit and hope Gerrard, no skill Lampard, Poser Ferdinand, it's all about me Terry, throw it all away. This group,,lower on ability than our 'golden' era' may bond stronger, and that may help us. Other than that, cross your fingers for the draw........we will need it.
At any point are you going to pack in being a WUM and answer any of my questions?
You cant even count - if we are using your undoubtedly highly crafted ranking system, rather than the FIFA one in which we are currently tenth, you imagine England are twenty fifth - between them Africa and Europe have 110 member nations so in order to be " below most of Europe and most of Africa" we would need to be 56th in the world at the very least. Please don't say "I didn't say we were 25th I said we were not in the top 24" because no one on here is stupid enough to fall for that.
As for "Some of you have already started on the we're going to win it..." In fact not one single person on this thread has suggested that, WSS made a tongue in cheek Curbs-like point about Greece, other than that you have made that up to suit what passes for your argument. The thread is about how well you think we will do, please excuse some people for being positive about their home nation or do you want each and every one of us to say we will crash and burn in the group before we even know who we have drawn?
Stonewall, I am a proud Englishman. Fortunately, living in OZ, i am not exposed to the brainwashing press you guys have over there. YOU are not a realist. England has a shocking nationa team, certainly not in the top 24 in the world. The brand of football played by aengland is third rate, definitely below the Latins and almost certainly below most of Europe and most of Africa. Mendonca, thanks, you get my drift. Some of you have already started on the we're gonna win it, rech the SF, QF etc. personally, I hope that all happens. However, we swa our 'golden' era with hit and hope Gerrard, no skill Lampard, Poser Ferdinand, it's all about me Terry, throw it all away. This group,,lower on ability than our 'golden' era' may bond stronger, and that may help us. Other than that, cross your fingers for the draw........we will need it.
Do i think we will win the world cup? No.
Do i think we are as bad as what you are waffling on about? No.
There is no brain washing in the media. Only negative brain washing which is why the england supporters club is at an all time low.
You sound like you are on another planet rather than another country if you think we are not in the top 25 in the world.
Piara Powar, executive director of Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe), told the BBC: "This was a silly phrase to use in a diverse workforce.
"One assumes it wasn't Freudian - there is no evidence to suggest it was. I think some players will see it as a reflection of the type of language still used by some coaches and some attitudes that still prevail."
Algarve, VG et al.......it will be interesting to seenall the angry posts post World Cup. I hope we win it. I AM a proud Englisheman and din't need, Algarve, a man also living overseas, to judge me.. ALL, re-read the thread and you will see how the bandwagon has alreday begun. Also look at the other threads where we all state how far we are behind the rest of the world, which is one of the reasons we have an inquiry, with the huge minds of Greg Dyke and Danny Mills helping us. It's really laughable. As for FIFA rankings, again, look at other threads where you agree they are a joke. Getvreal.
Go to most England home games and felt we were more convincing against both Montenegro and Poland than we've been for a long time.
There's no doubt that some countries are better than us technically and Germany seem to have raised the bar with their intensity and pace. However, anything can happen on the day and if we play as positively as we did in these last two games we'll be nobody's pushover.
We now seem to have some real pace and athleticism in the side and thats never easy to deal with.
Algarve, VG et al.......it will be interesting to seenall the angry posts post World Cup. I hope we win it. I AM a proud Englisheman and din't need, Algarve, a man also living overseas, to judge me.. ALL, re-read the thread and you will see how the bandwagon has alreday begun. Also look at the other threads where we all state how far we are behind the rest of the world, which is one of the reasons we have an inquiry, with the huge minds of Greg Dyke and Danny Mills helping us. It's really laughable. As for FIFA rankings, again, look at other threads where you agree they are a joke. Getvreal.
Get real??...Your opening comment on the whole thread was 'England are terrible...'
If you honestly believe that then theres no point even debating with you.
Will make it to the second round or quarters and not disgrace ourselves for the first time in a couple of decades. Think we'll end up playing Spain or Germany in the last 16 and go out fighting to them IMO.
This. Our defence might not be world class on paper but we are hard to beat. We pick up draws when playing badly or under par. An important asset to have.
Italy can't feel great at the moment they drew 2-2 at home last night to Armenia.
Drew with Italy at the Euro's, drew in Brazil in the summer, beat Belgium at wembley last year, Uruguay are poor apart from Suarez and Cavani. Portugal and/or France might not even be there. Mexico are awful.
On our day, not many sides will beat us. We hardly ever lose and aside from 2010 we nearly always go out on penalties. As poor as everyone says we are, if we were good at penalties we'd have reached a world cup final, a Euro final and 2-3 semi finals since 1990.
Spain, Argentina and Germany are the only sides i'd say would comfortably beat us.
Can't believe that drawing with Italy at the Euros has been listed as a credible result, Italy outplayed England so much is was embarrassing should have been 3-0.
But it wasn't. Tournaments are a results based business, and the truth is we were a couple of penalty kicks away from beating Italy.
The same can be said about 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2006. It really is amazing how close we have been to getting to Semis and to Finals had it not been for penalty kicks.
To this day I still maintain that we would have won Euro '96 had it not been for that Southgate miss.
Contradicted yourself from start to finish.
If you say that it's a results based business then England still lost those matches... So I don't quite get your point.
Your claim that on our day not many teams can beat us, I disagree. I think Spain, Italy, France, Germany, holland, Brazil, Argentina would definitely beat us. I think Portugal and Belgium probably would too. Mexico (as its in SAmerica), Colombia, Chile would also give us a good match that could go either way. So I think everyone is getting carried away again.
I support England whatever, but I agree with forzajuve that it was embarrassing to watch us lose to Italy in the Euros. I think this tournament will be a bit more exciting as we have a bit more heart in the team. Less expectation is exactly what we need and that is why this thread needs a level head like mine. Everyone need to calm down, have a beer, and just enjoy supporting the three lions like we do Charlton.
Actually....My point was that getting a 0-0 draw with Italy, and losing on penalties was still a 'credible result'. I didn't find it embarrassing at all. Losing 3-0 or 4-0 is embarrassing. Your mentality of a 0-0 draw, regardless of how much possession/shots on target etc, being 'embarrassing' just typifies the problem we have in this country of expecting too much of the England team.
Spain - we beat them the last time we played them didn't we? Italy - We took them to penalties and they didn't put a goal past us in open play. The same team that went out in the group stage in 2010? France - Absolute disaster in 2010, and finished below us in the group in 2012. Again, they couldn't beat us when we played them. Holland - Finished Euro 2012 with ZERO points in the group. When did England last perform that badly? Brazil - Last two games we have played them we have got a draw and a win. Argentina - Last two games we have played them, we have won. Portugal - Another team that has only beaten us in recent years with the use of penalties. Belgium - Flavor of the month side which hasn't actually got any significant players who have been in tournament football. Mexico - Have a day off. Colombia - They have Falcao, and......? Chile - Good going forwards, but will always concede goals. The Peterborough United of international football.
So, in my view, you and quite a few others are getting carried away with the idea of shooting England down wherever possible.
Any of those listed sides will look at England and think 'tough game', the same way we would about some of them.
Algarve, VG et al.......it will be interesting to seenall the angry posts post World Cup. I hope we win it. I AM a proud Englisheman and din't need, Algarve, a man also living overseas, to judge me.. ALL, re-read the thread and you will see how the bandwagon has alreday begun. Also look at the other threads where we all state how far we are behind the rest of the world, which is one of the reasons we have an inquiry, with the huge minds of Greg Dyke and Danny Mills helping us. It's really laughable. As for FIFA rankings, again, look at other threads where you agree they are a joke. Getvreal.
As Valley Gary said no point in debating with you as you are incapable of doing so.
This x 1000. It wasn't a joke; it was a story with a message. No racism whatsoever. Whoever called the journalist should be ashamed and the journalist in question too.
This x 1000. It wasn't a joke; it was a story with a message. No racism whatsoever. Whoever called the journalist should be ashamed and the journalist in question too.
this again. How they could even run with the story is unbelievable. Even the thickest player in the world could see that it is in no way racist and you therefor have to question there motives.
Comments
Of the teams there I'd think we should be better than Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Iran, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland and United States. We'd have to be bad to lose to any of these.
I'd expect us to be on a par with Italy and Netherlands. If we play them it could be anybody's game.
Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain have historically been better than us, and I don't know of any reason it should be different this time. We'll need a slice of luck to beat any of these. On a good day, I think we could take any of them on. But beating two or more of them to go all the way looks to be a big ask.
Based on all that I'd say that reaching the quarter finals is a realistic expectation, semi finals a realistic hope, reaching the final would be a dream, and winning it a wet one.
With England I wouldn't say there's a single team that would 'definitely beat us' because you don't know what type of performance England will put in. I see us as the same type of side as Chelsea in the CL. Won't play good teams off the park but will work hard, ride their luck and who knows what could happen.
Mendonca, thanks, you get my drift.
Some of you have already started on the we're gonna win it, rech the SF, QF etc. personally, I hope that all happens. However, we swa our 'golden' era with hit and hope Gerrard, no skill Lampard, Poser Ferdinand, it's all about me Terry, throw it all away.
This group,,lower on ability than our 'golden' era' may bond stronger, and that may help us.
Other than that, cross your fingers for the draw........we will need it.
Some of our play on Tuesday was world class. Living in Oz, do you get to watch much African Nations stuff?
It comments like that that are just as ridiculous as people telling us we're are gonna win it and 'England expects'
Will look forward to all the quality African football next summer!!! LOL
You cant even count - if we are using your undoubtedly highly crafted ranking system, rather than the FIFA one in which we are currently tenth, you imagine England are twenty fifth - between them Africa and Europe have 110 member nations so in order to be " below most of Europe and most of Africa" we would need to be 56th in the world at the very least. Please don't say "I didn't say we were 25th I said we were not in the top 24" because no one on here is stupid enough to fall for that.
As for "Some of you have already started on the we're going to win it..." In fact not one single person on this thread has suggested that, WSS made a tongue in cheek Curbs-like point about Greece, other than that you have made that up to suit what passes for your argument. The thread is about how well you think we will do, please excuse some people for being positive about their home nation or do you want each and every one of us to say we will crash and burn in the group before we even know who we have drawn?
Proud Englishman - I don't think so.
Do i think we are as bad as what you are waffling on about?
No.
There is no brain washing in the media. Only negative brain washing which is why the england supporters club is at an all time low.
You sound like you are on another planet rather than another country if you think we are not in the top 25 in the world.
I'd love to know which player or 'insider' has gone to the press on this. Complete c*nt.
"One assumes it wasn't Freudian - there is no evidence to suggest it was. I think some players will see it as a reflection of the type of language still used by some coaches and some attitudes that still prevail."
give me strength
During the tournament they seem to care more about the WAGs than the actual results.
What a ridiculous non-story
Getvreal.
There's no doubt that some countries are better than us technically and Germany seem to have raised the bar with their intensity and pace. However, anything can happen on the day and if we play as positively as we did in these last two games we'll be nobody's pushover.
We now seem to have some real pace and athleticism in the side and thats never easy to deal with.
Let's be positive and keep our fingers crossed!!
If you honestly believe that then theres no point even debating with you.
If you say that it's a results based business then England still lost those matches... So I don't quite get your point.
Your claim that on our day not many teams can beat us, I disagree. I think Spain, Italy, France, Germany, holland, Brazil, Argentina would definitely beat us. I think Portugal and Belgium probably would too. Mexico (as its in SAmerica), Colombia, Chile would also give us a good match that could go either way. So I think everyone is getting carried away again.
I support England whatever, but I agree with forzajuve that it was embarrassing to watch us lose to Italy in the Euros. I think this tournament will be a bit more exciting as we have a bit more heart in the team. Less expectation is exactly what we need and that is why this thread needs a level head like mine. Everyone need to calm down, have a beer, and just enjoy supporting the three lions like we do Charlton.
Actually....My point was that getting a 0-0 draw with Italy, and losing on penalties was still a 'credible result'. I didn't find it embarrassing at all. Losing 3-0 or 4-0 is embarrassing. Your mentality of a 0-0 draw, regardless of how much possession/shots on target etc, being 'embarrassing' just typifies the problem we have in this country of expecting too much of the England team.
Spain - we beat them the last time we played them didn't we?
Italy - We took them to penalties and they didn't put a goal past us in open play. The same team that went out in the group stage in 2010?
France - Absolute disaster in 2010, and finished below us in the group in 2012. Again, they couldn't beat us when we played them.
Holland - Finished Euro 2012 with ZERO points in the group. When did England last perform that badly?
Brazil - Last two games we have played them we have got a draw and a win.
Argentina - Last two games we have played them, we have won.
Portugal - Another team that has only beaten us in recent years with the use of penalties.
Belgium - Flavor of the month side which hasn't actually got any significant players who have been in tournament football.
Mexico - Have a day off.
Colombia - They have Falcao, and......?
Chile - Good going forwards, but will always concede goals. The Peterborough United of international football.
So, in my view, you and quite a few others are getting carried away with the idea of shooting England down wherever possible.
Any of those listed sides will look at England and think 'tough game', the same way we would about some of them.
Seen the story on roy this morning. He done nothing wrong. This is ridiculous
andros townsend @andros_townsend 2h
I don't know what all this fuss is about. No offence was meant and none was taken! It's not even news worthy!